CHHIRJ responds to the June 25 Supreme Court decision, Shelby County v. Holder, with a press release and executive summary from a soon-to-be released report about the actual costs of “free” photo voter identification cards. Below is an excerpt:

Today, a deeply divided (5-4) Supreme Court voted to strike down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, the coverage formula for Section 5 preclearance. In doing so, it has suspended an important and effective tool that has been available to justice officials since 1965 in their efforts to eradicate voter discrimination in the United States. As Justice Ginsburg noted in her dissent: “Throwing out preclearance when it has worked and is continuing to work to stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.”

CHHIRJ Executive Director Charles Ogletree has an op ed in the June 26 Washington Post about the Shelby decision. Below is an excerpt from the op ed:

This decision moves us backward at a time when voting rights are being threatened at a level we haven’t witnessed in decades, indeed, since before the Voting Rights Act was passed. Granted, those seeking to disenfranchise “undesirable” voters no longer use literacy tests. Their strategies are more sophisticated now, but their intent is all too familiar.

To read the full op ed from Professor Ogletree, Representative John Lewis and others, click here: The Washington Post